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Home : 2008 : May : 7

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By cvt

I agree with the previous posters about how little the children are prepared for K. I went from a very affluent school in a different district to a school very similar to lenarmc's (78% Hispanic, Title 1, Reading First).
Needless to say, it was a cultural shock. Although half of the students had been to a state-run preschool, others had not, and had NO school skills. They had no spoken language skills, either in Spanish or English. You can expect a wide range of abilities.

Some children had never seen a book or held one in their hands. During the literacy survey to assess each individual student I

would hand the child a book. About four or five had no clue how to hold one or how to open it. They had no idea what a letter was, let alone a word. There was no understanding of the connection between the spoken and written words.

Besides what the other posters did, I read many books to them, Big Books, quality children's books and fairy tales, and sang nursery rhymes and many many songs, just so they would be exposed to language. I had a listening center where they could hear a story and follow along.

On the plus side, many children come from large or extended families, and have a lot of compassion for others. They are very helpful and want to please. You will rarely find the brattiness and sense of entitlement that seems to be so prevalent in affluent areas.